


Silence

by fiface



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Angst, Deaf!Louis, Disability, Fluff, Heartbreak, High School, M/M, Pining, Seemingly unrequited love, Step-Brothers, semi-incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-10
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-09 13:35:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/456025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiface/pseuds/fiface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry likes his new 'Step-Brother'. Louis is deaf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Maybe this wouldn’t be happening if I hadn’t pushed my mum to start dating again. It’s just, I hated seeing her so miserable and alone all the time. So, I thought I would be a great son, and suggest she get back in the scene, find love again. That’s when she chose to inform me of something she had kept from me for years.

“Harry, darling,” she had said, all serious and worried looking. “I have some news for you. It might be quite a shock, so I want you to sit down, and please, do not judge me,” I had never seen my mother look so afraid, and it scared me. Like, I felt a chill creep into my bones, like she was about to tell me that she was actually on her death bed, or something equally as sinister.

“Okay, Mum, take your time,” I said, giving her a hug, before sitting down in front of her on the couch, watching her, waiting for the inevitable.

“I am a lesbian,” her voice was so soft that I almost missed it. She was staring at me, waiting for my reaction, and I just burst out laughing, relief washing over me.

“Thank God,” I said, still chuckling, wiping imaginary sweat from my forehead. I stopped laughing when I realised my mum was still staring at me.

“It’s not a laughing matter, it’s not a joke. I’m being serious,” she snapped at me, glaring. I sighed, heavily.

“I realised that, Mum, I just thought you had some type of terminal illness, not that you loved,” I said simply.

“So,” she said after a moment, watching me carefully. “You don’t have an issue with me being gay? That I want to date other women?” she asked. Honestly, was the freaking woman stupid? I loved my beautiful mother, why would I care if she was lesbian or not? She can date whoever she wants, as long as they are worthy of her. I told her as much, and she grinned at me, that beautiful smile that had gotten me through so much in my life.

“Then you won’t mind me telling you that I am dating already?” she had asked. And I stared at her in shock, maybe a moment too long, because her smile faltered. I was quick to reassure her.

“No, no that is brilliant! Perfect even!” my grin was almost as big as her grin was.

“Oh, I have raised such an understanding son!” she exclaimed, “Why are you so accepting? Most kids would freak out about this type of thing,”

I considered my answer for a moment, trying to decide if the truth was the correct path to go by, and coming to the conclusion that it was, and without regretting it, I stared my mum directly in the eye and told her something I had never told a single person before in my life.

“I’m gay too, Mum,” there was no hesitation in my voice, no feeling of insecurities as I told my mother the truth. She had come out to me the day I came out to her.

With a squeal, my mum launched herself into my arms, and peppered my cheeks with kisses.

“Oh Harry, this is wonderful!”

*

It’s not that I regret any of that. It’s not that I regret telling my mum to start dating again. It’s not that I regret her coming out to me, because she gave me the courage to come out to her. It’s just, now we are moving. Leaving everything I have ever known behind.

The woman my mother was dating was wonderful, beautiful and amazing. She really did love my mum, and they had decided to shack up together. Decided to make us a family. That is all well and good and everything, but… she, Jay, my future Step-mother, wonderful woman that she is, already had kids. She had five of them. FIVE! The max number of siblings I am used to is One, and she’s moved out, so it’s just been me and mum for over a year. But now, it’s going to be my mum, my step-mum, myself and Jay’s five kids.

I guess I would be more upset about this if we were just moving into Jay’s home. But, thanking my lucky stars, both women had decided it would be best if we all moved, to a new location. London.

So, mum and I had packed up all our stuff, into our car and a few removalist vans, and were on the road to London. I had seen pictures of our new home, never having been there though, and new it was going to be absolutely stunning. It was a four bedroom masterpiece. That was the only downfall. I would be sharing with one of Jays kids. Her son.

Jay had four daughters and a son. I hadn’t met them, and only knew a little bit about them. There were Daisy and Phoebe, the twins, Fizz and Lottie, the pre-teens, and Louis, the teenage son. Yay. I knew he wouldn’t be homophobic, courtesy of his mother, but, I didn’t really know if I wanted to share a room with another boy anyway.

“Don’t look so glum, Harry, this is going to be a good experience for you, you finally get to have younger siblings,” Mum said to me, nudging my shoulder, whilst keeping her eyes on the road. I sighed. Easy for her to say.

“What’s Louis like?” I asked, instead of responding to her optimistic claims. I had chosen not to find out much about Jay’s kid, hoping that this whole moving thing would stop, but it didn’t, so I was left with no knowledge of them.

“Louis? Oh, he’s a real sweetie. Definitely a joker, a real looker, and a lovely young boy,” Mum said, pausing, wincing at something. I frowned. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

“What is it?” I demanded, not meaning to sound quite so protective. She let out a startled little laugh.

“He’s deaf,”


	2. Chapter Two

_He’s deaf_

The words were on repeat, pulsing through my brain.

_He’s deaf._

It couldn’t be true. I must have misheard her words. That’s it, I misheard her.

“He’s what?” I asked, after a few moments of silence, having managed to convince myself that she had not just told me the boy I would be living with was _deaf_.

She glanced over at me, eyebrow raised, an amused smirk on her lips.

“He’s deaf,” she repeated, slowly, enunciating each word clearly. I’m pretty sure the woman was mocking me. I shot her a bleak look, before turning to stare out my window.

I’ve never met a deaf person before, like a really truly deaf person. Sure, I’ve met people that are hard of hearing, but actually deaf? Never. It kind of scared me, to be honest. Now I have to live with one. This was not how I pictured my new life.

I had been trying to be optimistic and think that perhaps, this life would be good, I’d have a great step-mum, a few new sisters, and a brother I could get along with? Now, that was all shot down. I don’t know sign language. How am I supposed to communicate with the boy?

How was he a funny guy when he could even hear people? What did he do? Mime?

*

After what felt like centuries, we finally pulled up outside our new home. The pictures I had seen of it really did it no justice, because in the pictures it was really nice. In person it was stunning! It was a beautiful two storey building with arched windows, and a glorious garden that surrounded it. From the garage was a little path surrounded on either side by white and pink roses. My mum loved roses, and from what I had managed to discover, so did Jay.

I not so secretly adored the woman my mother was in love with. There was absolutely nothing fake about her. she was beautiful, friendly, intelligent, funny and exceptionally brilliant at cooking. She never tried to patronise me, or treat me funny. She legitimately treated me like a human being, someone to be respected. I could seriously praise the woman all day.

I slowly climbed out of the car, now dreading meeting my new family even more. However, my mum was too excited, she was virtually bouncing where she stood, impatient for me to stand next to her, so she could grab my hand and race with me up to the house itself. Which promptly happened the moment I was next to her.

The moment we stepped through the front door, I saw a blur as someone threw their arms around me. I instantly recognised the perfume as Jays, and didn’t hesitate to wrap my arms back around the shorter woman.

“Oh, Harry!” she exclaimed, pulling back and holding me at arm’s length, looking at me with her bright eyes, a stunning smile on her lips. “This is so exciting, you finally get to meet my kids, and we can all finally be a family,” her voice was even more excited and energetic than usual, and she almost seemed to be vibrating with an energy that she never seemed to run out off.

“I’m glad it’s finally happening, too,” I said with a bright smile. Even though I wasn’t too excited, Jay had never failed at getting me to smile since we met. I opened my mouth to say something else, but realised that she was no longer even looking at me.

Jay’s attention had been diverted, and I instantly recognised the sappy, in-love look in her eyes that was directed at my mum. Almost the instant their eyes met, the rest of the world would fade out. It happened every time. I knew, without looking, that the look was reflected in my mum’s eyes.

I pretended to gag a little as I looked past Jay and at her kids… or four of her kids. Her four daughters, who all looking startlingly alike, blonde hair, blue eyes, pixie like features, all short and pretty. All four of the girls were eyeing me with massive grins, and they were positively vibrating, just like their mother.

“HARRY                !” one of the twins, who were both identical, screamed, racing at me and she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was obviously just a child, I probably would have disentangled myself from her as quickly as possible.

Before Twin One had let go of me, Twin Two had joined in. With a wince, I hugged the two kids I had only ever heard about. This was slightly uncomfortable for me, because, to be honest, I wasn’t used to little kids, at all.

The other two girls, Fizz and Lottie, both had smiles on their little faces, obviously amused by the look on my face.

“The one wearing the purple dress is Daisy, the one in the pink is Phoebe,” the taller girl, who I presumed to be Lottie, spoke, introducing her twin sisters. It was then that I noticed the difference in the dresses, which I had totally missed before.

The twins finally drew back, smiling up at me with possibly the biggest smiles I had ever seen. I smiled back.

“This is Fizz,” Lottie said, nudging the slightly shorter girl forward. Fizz’s smile became shy all of a sudden, as my attention landed solely on her. she took a step or two forward and gave me a quick hug.

“Hey Harry,” she said as she stepped back behind the twins.

“Hey Fizz,” I returned with a smile, finding her sudden shyness absolutely adorable.

“And I am Lottie,” Lottie introduced herself, smiling happily, but instead of offering a hug, she held her hand up for a high five. A burst of laughter fell from my lips, and I knew in that instant, as I reached out and gave the girl a high five in return, that I was going to, mostly, enjoy having younger sisters.

“And, I am obviously Harry,” I said, giving a slight, theatrical bow. The four girls giggled, and I felt familiar arms wrap around my waist, as my mum stepped past me, further into the house, only for her to receive excited hugs from the girls.

“I see you met the girls, Harry,” she called over her shoulder to me as she picked up the twin in purple onto her hip. I had already forgotten which twin was wearing what colour. I nodded in response to my mum.

“Now, if only I knew where Louis was… He’s around somewhere,” Jay said as she picked up the other twin.

“Let’s show Harry where the kitchen is, and we’ll have some lunch, before we give him the grand tour of the entire house, alright ladies?” Jay said quickly, ushering the girls in front of her, and then indicating me to follow.

I now managed to take notice of the room we were standing in. it was the ‘entrance hall’ I guess you could say. A massive staircase was on one side and a wide corridor was on the other. I sighed, content, as I followed my new ‘sisters’ down the corridor.

At the end, was a large oak door which Lottie pushed open. It lead into a very spacious room, which was only half filled with boxes. Whether they were mine and mums, or the girls, I really had no idea.

On the far side of that room, which I figured was to become the living room, was a set of large French doors, which opened into the kitchen and dining room. A very modern kitchen and dining room, with food laid out on an already set up table. Party foods, party pies, sausage rolls, fairy bread, chips, sandwiches, cakes, etc.

I grinned, feeling like a little kid alongside the actual kids, and grabbed a couple of pies, putting them onto a plate and starting to eat.

I was leaning against the table, listening to the twin in pink go on about one of her barbie dolls. I was honestly surprised at how much she could tell me about her barbie, and how fast as well.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mum and Jay laughing at me. I was, after all, nodding along to a six year old girl talking about a piece of plastic. I was so tempted to shoot them the bird, but I didn’t yet know how well that would go down with the kids around, so I just pretended to get really involved in the kids conversation.

However, just as I zoned into what the girl was saying, about to respond to her, a voice spoke from behind me.

“The neighbours on the right, the Payne’s, have given us a fruit basket,” the smooth, deep voice had me spinning on the spot. The lad that was standing in the door way, was about my age and absolutely, undeniably good looking, like, sinfully good looking, and I felt my throat close up at how attracted to him I was instantly.

And, he wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes were glued on Jay, a basket, full of fruit in his hands.

“Just put it on the table, Lou,” the woman said, and I honestly nearly had a heart attack. This was Louis? This was the deaf boy? No way. Absolutely no chance in hell. He just spoke, so clearly, so pleasantly, so normally. And he was doing as his mother had told him, placing the basket on the table.

His eyes landed on me, and I felt myself blush, realising I had been gaping the entire time.

“Hey, you must be Harry?” his voice was friendly and pleasant, and there was a small smile lighting along his face, and he held his hand out across the table for me to shake. I blinked rapidly for a second, clearing my head, and quickly thrust my hand towards him.

“Yea, you must be Louis? Nice to meet you,” I said. I was still in utter shock. I just didn’t understand how a deaf boy was understanding everything I was saying. I managed a small smile back.

I could hear mum and Jay snorting to the side of us, and I glanced at them. Obviously they had caught onto why I was so flabbergasted, well, I certainly hope they hadn’t caught onto my thoughts about how gorgeous this boy before me was, and where happily snickering away at my confusion. They plastered innocent looks upon their faces as I looked at them.

When I turned back to Louis, he had leant down to say something to Lottie, who was grinning a massive grin. I had my suspicions that whatever was being said was about me, and, with flaming cheeks, I picked up a slice of cake and walked over to mum and Jay, who both smirked at me,

“Something wrong, dear?” Jay asked me, humour glinting in her eyes.

“I thought he was deaf?” I asked, realising afterwards, how loud I said it. I quickly shot a glance over to Louis, but he didn’t look up from whatever Lottie was saying in return.

“Oh, but he is, sweetie,” Jay said lightly, her eyes not leaving my face, smirk not leaving hers.

“Then how is he able to talk so normal and understand what I say?” I’m sorry if I sounded absolutely dumb, but, seriously, I don’t think I had ever been more confused in my life.

Both Mum and Jay burst into loud guffaws of laughter, leaning on each other for support, tears streaming down their faces. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and hide in embarrassment.

“He lip reads sweetie, and he wasn’t always deaf. There was an accident, and… well, he was able to talk before, and so, he can still talk,” Jay said casually, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

A silent ‘Oh’ fell from my lips, and I turned back to the table and my new ‘siblings’ without another embarrassing word to the adults.


	3. Chapte Two

Trying to get our new household organised had proven to be quite difficult, to say the least. Mum and Jay were constantly giggling like a pair of school girls, and I walked in on them kissing more than once. They were so sickly sweet that I was positive my teeth were rotting.

The twins had taken it upon themselves to run around the house, squealing, and playing games. They tried to convince me to play at one stage, they had just started instructing me on how to be a good and proper pony, when Jay, thankfully, saved me, sending the girls to play elsewhere, away from me. Adorable as they were, I didn’t really want to be a pony.

Fizz and Lottie had, almost as soon as lunch was over, hidden themselves in their room, apparently intent on getting their room fully set up before bedtime. Their door was shut, and, as I walked passed, I could not miss the distinctive tones of Justin Bieber.

Louis had been quick to set up the television in the living room, and, as I walked through to the kitchen, I couldn’t help but admire how attractive he looked (which made me want to smack myself) sitting on the floor, legs crossed, staring at the screen intently like he was the same age as his twin sisters. I shot the TV a curious glance, and recognised the cartoon as Scooby-Doo, but, was surprised when I didn’t see any subtitles.

Now, I had come to learn that he could understand what I was saying, when he looked at me, because he could lip read, but, the cartoons lips couldn’t possibly be that legible, so, how could he watch, without knowing, what was being said, was beyond me. With a slight shrug, I entered the kitchen to get the drink I had been heading to get.

I had been in the process of attempting to organise my room, before heading to hydrate myself. The room I was sharing with Louis was large, and currently very unorganised. There were two large wardrobes on either side of the room, and boxes spread around everywhere. Some had ‘Harry’ written, and some had ‘Lou’ messily scrawled across them.

In the time since lunch, I had managed to set my bed up and put my clothes in my wardrobe. That’s it. It was such a laborious job and I was so over it. I mean, it’s not like my clothes will stay in there anyway, I’m not exactly the neatest person in the world.

I was standing at the sink, glass of water in my hand, staring out the window which faced the backyard, where the twins were now playing, and I was thinking about the boy in the other room, which was what I had been doing since I had first laid eyes on him.

He hadn’t said anything else to me since his greeting at lunch, so when his voice sounded from behind me, the glass in my hands slipped and smashed in the sink with a loud clatter.

“Could you help set up my bed?”

He had walked up so silently that I had not heard his approach. It startled me how smooth and normal his voice sounded. I turned to look at him, trying not to stare at how attractive he was. I was honest to god screwed.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing,” I stuttered. His smile was disarmingly sweet and gorgeous, and, to be completely honest, I really just wanted to jump his freaking bones.

I don’t know if I thought he was going to say anything else, but he didn’t. He just turned and left the room, and I followed him. As we walked, I couldn’t help but stare at his arse, and I certainly didn’t miss the little sway he had to his step, whether it was intentional or not, it certainly had me biting my lip to hold back a little moan.

With Louis walking in front, it was pointless to even attempt conversation, him not being able to hear and all, so I kept silent. It was in the silence that I realised how quietly the lad moved. He didn’t stomp, in fact, he didn’t make any noise, unlike me, I tended to walk quite loudly. Everything about Louis was honestly so strange.

Speaking of strange, I had never shared a room with anyone before, so that first night was odd. After setting up Louis’ bed, having a cold dinner, and then heading back to keep my new roommate company whilst he put his clothes away, I discovered that Louis, it turned out, liked to talk. Normally, I would’ve thought it was because he liked the sound of his own voice, but under the circumstances…

The two of us sat up until quite late, Louis telling me stories about his life in Doncaster. It seemed that his hearing impairment and never really, well, impaired him… from anything a normal teenager did. The two of us sat on our individual beds, light on, facing each other.

“My last girlfriend, Hannah, and I broke up… cos of me moving. She was an amazing girl, but I can’t do a long distance relationship, you know?” he said, casually. It was then that I noticed his hands moving slightly as he spoke and to be honest, I had no idea whether that was just a habit, or if he was also signing, which I hadn’t even thought about.

Now, call me girly, if you want, but, upon hearing about him having a girlfriend, or an ex-girlfriend, I felt quite disappointed. See, it’s always been a typical thing, the guys I like always turn out to be straight.

“So, Harry,” his grin was infectious, and completely adorable. “Your mum is quite fit, and quite frankly, I’m glad her and my mum are together,” his voice was sincere, and I smiled back at him.

“Agreed,” I said. “Your mum is really amazing!” I couldn’t help but grin as I remembered walking in on the two women earlier, kissing against the bathroom door. Whilst it was disturbing, it was also kind of cute.


	4. Chapter Four

I realised, the next day, as Louis and I were walking to school, our immaculate, brand new uniforms rustling slightly as we walked, that over the last twenty-four hours, I had become so full of questions, and that my life had been turned around completely.

I was living with four little girls, a boy my age, my mother and her girlfriend. None of that was an issue for me. In fact, other than getting used to the noise, I was quite enjoying it. No, the issue was, having to learn what Louis’ limits were.

I tended to forget that Louis couldn’t hear me, like I had right now. There I was, telling Louis a story about a concert I had been to with my old friends from Holmes Chapel, walking next to him as I spoke, jabbering away like there was no tomorrow. It was when the story was over, and I was waiting for a response from the boy, that I remembered. I felt like smacking myself in the face for my stupidity.

Louis was walking at a steady pace, hands in his pockets, backpack on his back, head tilted slightly, watching our surrounds. And he couldn’t hear a word I was saying, because, he’s deaf. Duh.

I realised, after a moment, that I was staring. But I couldn’t help it. When someone as good looking as Louis is walking next to you, and isn’t paying you any attention, how can you resist? His eyes finally landed on me and he smiled brightly.

“Sorry, were you saying something?” he asked and I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me, or if he was genuinely asking, because, for all I know, he could’ve been listening, I mean, lip reading, but then turned his head at the last minute to make it look like he wasn’t. I felt myself start to blush slightly, but I shook my head instead.

“Nah,” I told him. He continued to smile at me. That same smile that made me want to push him against the nearest wall and have my wicked way with him. Of course I didn’t, I had better restraint than that.

“Oi, wait up!” a voice from behind us called out. Louis, obviously didn’t hear, but I turned to look, and saw a boy our age running up to us, dressed in the same uniform, with a messenger bag hanging from one shoulder, his straightened hair flapping slightly as he ran. It was obvious he was yelling at us, as there was no one else around.

“Uh, hi?” I greeted, as he caught up. The boy breathed heavily, catching his breath, and smile at both me and Louis, who had realised there was someone else there with us now.

“Hey, sorry. I was meant to be walking you guys to school today,” he said. I couldn’t help the eyebrow that raised automatically. Some random guy was meant to walk us to school.

“Pardon?” Louis asked, obviously as in the dark as I was. I knew that it wasn’t from him not understanding.

“Oh, uh, I live next door to you guys. My mum said she had spoken to your mum and seeing as we all go to the same school, that I should show you guys the way. I, she only just told me, and I realised you guys had left, so, uh, yeah. I’m Liam,” he said. His speech was so fast his words were blurring together, and I had trouble following them, and I could hear. It made me wonder how well Louis had understood him.

Turned out, Louis could understand him better than I could, because the shorter boy was holding his hand out for Liam to shake.

“I’m Louis, and this dolt here is Harry,” Louis’ smile was wide and inviting, friendly, and he didn’t even hesitate in the way he spoke.

I smiled and shook Liam’s hand, and we all started walking, Liam on my left, Louis on my right. It turned out that Louis wasn’t the only talker. Liam seemed to be able to hold a conversation almost on his own. Though, he could actually hear a response.

“Are you two brothers?” Liam asked, glancing between the two of us. I shook my head quickly.

“No, we aren’t. Our mums are dating, and figured it would be easier on us all if we all lived together,” I answered quickly, before Louis could respond, and I glanced at him. Louis wasn’t actually paying us any attention. He had ran forward slightly, towards a woman walking a puppy. The boy was down on his hands and knees, patting the dog before I could tell him not to.

The delighted laugh the boy let out as the dog licked him stopped me from grabbing him and dragging him on. He looked up at the woman, a massive grin on his face.

“She’s gorgeous,” he said, looking her directly in the face. The woman smiled in return, and actually helped Louis stand up and with a final glance at the puppy, he continued walking. I shook my head in amusement.

“He’s a bit, ah, odd, don’t you think?” Liam asked, a baffled sound to his voice. I shrugged.

“I don’t really know. I only met him yesterday,” I admitted, my eyes following the boy I was now living with, watching the way he walked, as I had the previous day.

“Oi, Louis, wait up!” Liam called out, as the boy rounded the corner, quite a way in front of us. I snorted in amusement.

“He can’t hear you,” I told Liam calmly, as I quickened my pace to try and catch up with Louis.

“Huh? Why not?” Liam asked, his pace patching mine perfectly. I glanced at him surprised for split second, before I remembered that this boy didn’t know.

“Oh, he’s deaf,” I said with a slight shake of my head. Liam stared at me, bemused.

“You’re kidding? Does he have an interpreter for school?” the boy asked me, and I stared at him, blinking slowly.

“An interpreter?” I asked, having no idea what that was meant to be.

“You know, someone that goes to his classes with him and makes sure he can understand what’s going on around him?”

“Oh, uh, I have no idea,” because, honestly, I had no idea.

We caught back up to Louis, who had slowed his pace for us to catch him and Liam asked him the same question he’d asked me.

“Do you have an interpreter?” his lips moved slowly, enunciating each word that he said carefully.

Louis stared at him blankly for a second, as though he was trying to figure out why Liam was talking the way he was.

“Uh, no. I don’t need one,” he replied, just as slowly as Liam, a slightly mocking tone to his voice, but a small smile was on his lips anyway.

Liam stared at him, obviously confused.

“But, how are you going to understand the lessons?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing down into a frown. Louis’ small smile widened into a grin.

“I’m magical, don’t you know?” he told him happily, a slightly skip to his step. I shook my head in amusement, and we picked up our paces, wanting to get to school on time. Liam walked with us, occasionally shooting Louis the bemused glances.


	5. Chapter Five

I was so thankful for Liam that day. We had most of the same classes, so he showed me around. Louis was with us most of the time too, but he was surprisingly quiet, for a lad that liked to talk, despite his hearing impairment.

Liam quite happily introduced us to his friends. There was Zayn, who was half Pakistani, tall, and so good looking it was almost painful. Despite how moody he looked, he was quite pleasant. And then there was Niall, a blonde ball of Irish energy.

I got along with them all quite well, they were a happy bunch, and seemed quite popular as well. Girls were constantly following them around. There were no issues either, thank god.

Liam hadn’t mentioned to Niall and Zayn about Louis’ deafness, probably forgetting about it, and so they talked to him like they did me. Louis seemed to have no issues. He responded to every question he was asked, and seemed to do fine in classes. He didn’t seem to have any issue with understanding what the teachers said, much to Liam and my shock. Maybe he was magical?

It was as we were leaving school, Louis had started to walk ahead, while Liam and I said goodbye to Niall and Zayn, that Niall asked about Louis.

“He’s kind of quiet?” he said, nodding after the boy. I couldn’t help but snort.

“No, he’s not really. He’s actually deaf,” I told them. Both their mouths dropped open in surprise, and I could tell that Liam was amused now. He’d had the day to get used to the fact that Louis was, despite how he appeared, deaf.

“No way! But… he could understand us!” Zayn exclaimed, and I laughed, because I knew exactly how he felt, because I was still trying to figure it all out properly.

“He’s deaf,” I repeated, nodding my head. Zayn was shaking his head, clearly gobsmacked, trying to process the little bit of information I had given him. Niall just stared at me, and then to Louis’ retreating back, and then to me again.

“That’s awesome!” he gushed, a massive grin blossoming on his face. In the few hours since I had met Niall, it was rare that a smile of some sort wasn’t on his face, and he was constantly laughing at everything, even things nobody else thought was funny. Honestly, though, I thought it was kind of cute. I wasn’t attracted to him, but, the whole happy, carefree thing certainly made everything brighter.

I shrugged my shoulders, finished the goodbyes, and Liam and I headed after Louis, catching up to him quickly, the boy wasn’t exactly walking very fast, just dawdling along. He glanced at me as we caught up to him, and I noticed a small frown pinching his gorgeous face.

“You alright?” I asked him quietly, trying not to draw extra attention to him from Liam, who was happily texting someone on his phone.

Louis gave a small nod of his head, and turned away from me. I felt myself frowning. It wasn’t hard to tell the boy was lying, but he obviously didn’t want to go into it, as he was making a point of not being able to lip-read. I shrugged to myself, and instead looked over at Liam.

“Who’s making you grin like that?” I asked, indicating the huge grin that was covering his face as he read a message. He looked at me, slightly embarrassed, a happy glint in his eyes.

“Her name is Danielle,” he said, sighing happily. And all I could think of was how girly he sounded. But he looked so happy…

“Does somebody have a crush?” I teased him. Liam was an exceptionally nice guy, and I could already tell we were going to make great friends. I was quite happy to have him as my next door neighbour, and to already have a friend in this new place.

“Actually, she’s my girlfriend,” he said, his smile so bright and happy it was almost blinding. Well, that confirmed that, he was straight. I grinned back at him.

“Really now? What does she look like?”

Liam showed me his phone. The background was of a curly haired girl with a beautiful smile.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I was as homosexual as they come, but, that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a gorgeous girl when I see one. And this girl was a real stunner. I couldn’t help my smile, admiring the luck Liam had.

“She’s gorgeous, you lucky bastard!” I laughed, and he grinned back.

“She really is,” he said, sighing happily, nudging Louis and showing him the picture. Louis, startled, looked at the phone, and raised an eyebrow.

“Who’s that?” he asked, making it obvious he hadn’t been paying attention. Liam’s smile didn’t fall from his face.

“That, my dear fellow, is my darling girlfriend, Danielle,” he said happily.

“Nice,” Louis said quietly, before tuning us back out. Liam and I exchanged confused glances.

“What’s wrong with him?” Liam asked, eyebrows drawn down. I shrugged.

“I have no idea. I’ll find out when we get home,” I promised and he nodded, and, courtesy of Louis’ mood, we fell into silence for the remainder of the walk, feeling the effects of Louis. Who would have thought that just because somebody is silent, makes the entire situation slightly uncomfortable.

The walk, to and from school, was about fifteen or twenty minutes each way, so, when we finally got home, I was quite happy. Louis pretty much ran inside the moment we got there. I stayed outside with Liam, eyes following Louis’ retreating form, door swinging shut behind him.

I turned to Liam.

“I’ll let you know… see what I can find out,” I told him softly. He nodded, looking back at me.

“He seems like a nice guy, but, that was a random mood swing. He seemed fine all day,” he said just as softly. I shrugged.

“Yeah, I don’t really know him much more than you do,” I said. “I’ll text you,” he nodded his head. We had exchanged numbers earlier in the day, along with Niall and Zayn. I headed up to my front door, waving slightly to my new friend, who sent a wave back as well and entered his own house.

Upon entering the house, I found it almost eerily quiet. I then remembered there were no cars in the drive way, so, mum and Jay weren’t home, and I doubted they would’ve left the girls at home by themselves.

I had to resist calling out to Louis, remembering that he wouldn’t be able to hear me even if I did. Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to find him. He was sitting on the couch, shoes kicked off, legs pulled up under him, eyes closed, resting his head on the armrest.

I stopped in front of him and knelt down so I was eye level with him, and shook his knee, getting his attention. His blue eyes opened, and stared at me dully, that small frown still marring his smooth forehead.

“Are you alright?” I asked my earlier question, he closed his eyes briefly, before opening them again.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked me, confusion lacing his tone and he rubbed his eyes. I felt a frown creasing my own face.

“I asked if you’re alright?” I repeated, my hand still on his knee. He shook his head slowly.

“Migraine,” he said softly, his voice not the normal smooth I was quickly becoming used to.

“Do you want painkillers?” I asked, worried. He nodded his head after a moment. I figured he was being slow because he was trying to decipher what I was saying. I was quick to get him the painkillers and a glass of water, and handed it to him carefully, and waited for him to swallow them before I spoke again.

“How long have you had the migraine for?” I asked him.

“It’s been getting steadily worse since school,” he admitted. I frowned. His words were slurred and the pitch was off.

I was startled as I heard the front door open, and a rush of footsteps and clatter, as the girls all got home in one big group. They all headed straight into the lounge room, and all of them stopped dead upon seeing me and Louis.

It was Jay that stood out in the group of females the most. Her smiling face had faded into a frown, and she quickly walked over to us.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and I didn’t miss the worry in her tone.

“He’s got a migraine,” I repeated for Louis, “he’s had painkillers,” she nodded her head thankful, and sat down with her son, pulling him into her embrace, and he buried his head into her neck, breathing deeply.

Jay looked straight at me, a gentle smile on her face.

“He gets headaches sometime, when he spends too much time, trying to concentrate and follow along with the conversations. Especially in strange and new surroundings,” she informed me, running a hand through her sons head gently.

That really did explain things, I guess. Though I had always found it weird that deaf people could get headaches, I had heard that they did. I guess, whoever had told me that little fact was completely correct.

How much concentrating did Louis have to do to follow a conversation? I had no idea, he always seemed so at ease and it seemed so natural for him, like he didn’t have to concentrate. I promised myself I’d find out, once he was feeling better.


End file.
